Centre was placed at a tough spot to defend its controversial legislation Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) after a Supreme Court-appointed committee probing six cases of extra-judicial killings in Manipur reported each to be fake encounter where the victims, including a 12-year-old boy, had no past criminal records.
The report prepared by a three-member Committee headed by Justice N Santosh Hegde was submitted before a bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai, who have sought the response of the Centre NHRC and amicus curiae by April 9.
“Its very disturbing. None of the six cases qualifies as true or genuine encounter,” said the bench, demanding answer from the Centre, which has defended the continuation of AFSPA and rejected reports of excesses committed by Army in the North East. The report came on a petition filed by families of victims killed in these encounters who claimed over 2000 persons were killed in the state over last decade.
The Committee, also comprising of former CEC JM lyngdoh and a senior police officer, also gave its suggestions, while disclosing a rather disturbing feature of Army operations in the region.
The bench said, “Security forces have various sources of information. If information comes from a particular source, say A1 they are not even to be verified. They just
attack the house.”
Despite guidelines framed by the Court in the Naga People’s Movement case and separate guidelines issued by NHRC, nothing was followed on ground, which made the bench to comment, “It should be as much the concern of the Union as that of the state of Manipur to enforce the same.”